Robledo – Broken Soul (Frontiers Music)

Broken Soul is the second album put out by the Chilean vocalist James Robledo following on from his debut release Wanted Man which came out in 2021. Robledo has been picking up rave reviews for his powerful voice and he is another singer very much in the best traditions of Ronnie James Dio and when you sing like the great man himself then you are always going to be in demand in the rock world.

Robledo may be a new name to many but he has been making quite a name for himself not least of which due to being the frontman with quite remarkable new band Sinner’s Blood and now also with Demons Down, another hard rock band alongside guitarist Francesco Savino (False Memories) and the group also features a remarkable line-up in guitarist Jimi Bell (House of Lords, Autograph), drummer Ken Mary (ex-House of Lords, Fifth Angel) and bassist Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, ex-House of Lords). South America seems to be something of a hot bed for new talent at the moment with Robledo coming from a most musical family having featured in a number of bands as well as appearing on Chilean television which ultimately led to him recording with a certain Ronnie Romero and this ultimately led to his involvement with the Frontiers label.

The debut album featured several label based musicians and this is still the case for the second album as a virtually new team has put together to support Robledo which is, perhaps, as it should be given that this is a solo album rather than a new band so we have Sinner’s Blood bandmate Nasson on guitar duties, Alex Jansen on bass, Jacopo Martignoni on drums and the seemingly ever present Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards and backing vocals and he has also produced the album. Again, Robledo has produced a class filled melodic rock delight which has been designed to showcase his prodigious vocals alongside more than capable support from a talented team of musician with Nasson laying down an endless stream of riffs and guitar breaks that perfectly complement the soaring voice of Robledo.

Think Rainbow, Edguy and Helloween and you have a flavour of this impressive new album which shows that James Robledo (like Ronnie Romero) is going to be around for a very long time.